I'll Give You A Star
by EllieMurasaki
Summary: Trust needs to be earned. Trust needs to be returned. Coda to 5x21 "The Devil You Know".


Sam lets Dean out of the panic room. Dean doesn't say yes to Michael. Sam objects to Dean's playing along with Crowley but doesn't stand in the way. Dean doesn't complain about the upholstery. Sam stays put when Dean leaves with Crowley, rather than try to follow. Dean brings Brady back to Sam, rather than go somewhere else.

Baby steps.

Dean goes into the bathroom and splashes water on his face. Symbolism. Water cleanses and purifies. The door closes behind him. Dean turns and hears thumping, probably something blocking the door, because turning the knob doesn't get anywhere. Dean calls out for Sam; the only reason Sam would be locking him up right now is to have a one on one with Brady, which Brady is unlikely to survive. They do still need him.

Dean rattles the door. It's old enough and the construction's poor enough that one good kick will probably take it down, depending on what Sam has blocking the door. If that doesn't work, Dean's got enough small metal bits on him to improvise a screwdriver and take the hinges off the door.

Sam has never, never once that Dean has ever seen, gone up against a demon that knows his name and gotten through the encounter without losing his shit at least once. (Ruby doesn't count for obvious reasons.) On the flip side, Sam knows exactly how much they need a lead, any lead, and that Brady is their best shot at getting a lead. Sam also knows he has problems with self-control, and he's been doing really well lately, not even glancing at any of the blood when they were fighting demons with the Sacrament Lutheran Militia, but Dean has no idea what Sam might do with an all-you-can-eat demon-blood buffet wrapped up in a shiny bow.

Does Sam know?

Maybe that's the point. Maybe Sam doesn't know. If he kills Brady, they're no worse off than they were before Crowley dropped in. If he doesn't, then Sam and Dean both have some convincing evidence in favor of Sam being trustworthy again.

Dean keeps rattling the door and calling out, for form's sake. He hears Sam's voice and Brady's, too quiet to make out most of the words. The voices go quiet. Dean thumps the door a little louder. Sam lets him out. Sam's not acting as though he's stoned on demon blood. Brady's still alive, though a little more bloody. "Like you said, we need him."

Crowley comes through. Sam gives Dean a look that says without words, trusting you seems to have paid off. It's the same look Dean gave Sam a few minutes earlier. Then the hellhounds and then the running, and in the alley, they don't need even to look at each other to act as though the same mind is moving both their bodies. Crowley beat the shit out of Brady, so Sam's college friend is dead, and better to kill this demon than to send it to hell; with the sheer number of demons they've seen in the past couple years, even with actively avoiding demons this past year, there's no way all of hell's emergency exit doors are still sealed tight, and they don't want Lucifer getting wind of this until it's too late to stop them.

This must be much the same for Sam as finally getting a crack at Alastair was for Dean. He thinks about pulling Sam aside, giving him some pointers on Dean's favorite torture techniques. But Sam's creative; if he decides death isn't enough, he'll figure something out. He's already got the enforced calm down, when he has a twenty-minute car ride to steel himself for it, at least, and that might have been the one lesson Dean had the hardest time learning.

Dean rummages through his cassette collection one-handed as he drives away. Black Sabbath goes in the tape player. Side two. _Look in the water, tell me what do you see? Reflections of the love you give to me_, and Dean glances over at Sam and puts a hand on his knee. Sam startles and reaches for a knife before he sees Dean, and Dean wonders just how far inside his head Sam's gone, but then Sam relaxes and puts his hand over Dean's.

Later, they'll toss the car for that tracking coin of Crowley's and figure out a way to silence the damn thing unless they want Crowley listening in, or else just toss the coin, though it might be useful to hang on to. They'll strip the car to the frame if they have to, which says something about how much Dean doesn't want Crowley to hear the conversation Sam's probably going to want to have. Until then, neither of them dares say a word. Not straightforwardly.

Sam snags the box and pokes through the collection until he comes up with Motorhead's _Bomber_. He holds it up and Dean grins. Sam doesn't move to replace the tape, though, not yet.

_Give me a sign to build a dream on..._


End file.
